Merry Christmas 2022

White birch trees in Winter. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone. The weather is frigid here and I've heard that across the county, many people are not only getting the cold temperatures, but also heavy snow. Stay safe and enjoy your holidays. Try not to venture out if possible.

The Snowball Fight. If you get snow, I hope you can enjoy a friendly snow ball fight.

White birch trees by the Lake. Otherwise, stay in and catch up on movies or bake cookies.

Snow Shadows. Snow can be beautiful just to look at (and also paint.)If you don't paint, then photograph it. Enjoy this cold time with your family and friends and I hope all of you have a great Christmas/and or holiday.

Best in Show Award at Watercolor Exhibition

Painting to the left: Rooftop View of New York-watercolor by Jane McElvany Coonce I am so thrilled to have won the Best in Show Award at the "The 28th Famous Artists of the 21st Century, a watercolor exhibition held at Hollin Hall in Alexandria, VA. The show runs through tomorrow from noon to 4pm. The address is 1500 Shenandoah Rd, Alexandria, VA. There are many beautiful paintings, and I'm honored that I won the top award. If you see the show, you will see that there were many paintings that could have won this award. Stop by, if you can.

Art show at Ft. CF Smith this weekend, Dec 2-4, 2022

The painting "Georgetown in Winter" will be one of the paintings at the Artful Weekend at Ft. CF Smith, 2411 North 24th St. in Arlington . There will be 35 artists showing their art work, and I am honored to be one of them. Hours: Friday, Dec 2 from 3 to 7 pm (reception is 5pm - 7 pm.) Saturday, Dec 3 from 10 am to 5 pm. and Sunday Dec 4 from 10 am to 3 pm I will be there during the reception and also part of Saturday and Sunday. Hope I get to see you. If not, you can at least see my paintings.

This painting is called "Snowy Path to the Gate. I will have both watercolor and oil paintings there, as well as cards and my 2023 calendars.

So thrilled that my watercolor painting,"Concert in the Cathedral," was selected in the juried show at The Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover, Delaware. This show was sponsored by the Delaware Watercolor Society. The show hangs from Oct 26, 2022 - January 11, 2023. The opening reception is Oct 29, from 2 o- 4 pm. This painting depicts a concert that I attended in Venice. It was such a beautiful venue for a beautiful group of musicians. It is such a special memory that I HAD to paint it.

Candy Land

Here is my latest painting that I called Candyland. I planned this painting about 1 year ago. I went to Cracker Barrel and picked out all kinds of candy. The colors in candy are so vibrant and beautiful. The gumball machine is something that has been in our kitchen for at least 30 years. I had planned to start this painting last spring, but then my surgery for cancer interferred, and I had to postpone the start of this painting. Finally, when I felt back to normal, I set up this painting and worked from the still life set up. It was so fun to paint. I especially enjoyed painting the lolly pops which I really had to think about in order to get them to look shiny. And no, I did not eat any of this after I finished the painting. If I am going to spend calories on candy, it's going to be chocolate!

Final Results of my Solo Show

What a month it has been. My solo show at Gallery Underground was a huge success! It passed my wildest dreams! I sold 21 paintings which was almost half of the painting in the show. So thrilled that it was such a hit. Thanks to all my supporters: people who came to see the show, those who came to the reception, those who sent me kind words and those who gave my paintings a new home. Now that I have a little more room in my closets, I can start painting more to fill up the space!!!!! Here's one I did last week called Backlighting in Venice. Looking forward to painting again and eventually thinking of where my next show will be.

What's Your Favorite Season?

People ask me what is my favorite season to paint? During Covid, I painted all 4 seasons and really enjoyed doing the different landscapes that came with every season. Summer, of course, makes me think of the beach. My brother has a beach house up in Dewey Beach, Delaware, and we go there all the time.

I even tried my hand at some palette knife painting.

Winter can be beautiful with the snow. I took a walk around the tidal basin where the cherry blossoms bloom in the spring. It was winter and there was snow on the ground. The trees were bare, but the color of the snow was beautiful.

Spring is always beautiful after a long cold winter. It feels like the earth is rejuvenating itself and sending flowers to get us out of our deep sleep. Spring is the best time to visit the tidal basin when the cherry blossoms are actually blooming. It's a sight to see if you've never seen it before. The Jefferson Memorial is there, and all the pink of the trees reflect in the water.

Fall is the time when colors change. I normally don't paint many autumn scenes, but this year I did. Birds fly south and the kids go back to school. The beach is quiet. It's my favorite time down there.